Where I live in Portland, OR, we’ve had an abundance of sunshine-filled days this fall- a rare treat! The rain is starting though so my mind is back on how to best support my patients in the dark winter months. I’ve talked about winter blues in a past blog post but the blues aren’t the only issue we face with shorter, darker days. We also face lack of vitamin D, aka, the “sunshine vitamin.”

This vitamin plays an important role in making your bones strong, helping your immune system to work properly, and it even controls the expression of over one-thousand genes in your body! It prevents bone loss, and studies even show it can help prevent cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The most direct way to get the D you need is through sun exposure.

The body is incredible in that it can take the UVB radiation from the sun and convert it directly to usable vitamin D! But in most places the winter the sun does not come out enough for this to be possible. And, if you’re lucky enough to live in a sunny place, if you wear sunblock…no vitamin D. And it’s also important to know that the darker your skin the less vitamin D you absorb. In short, for many people, if not most, it’s difficult to get enough sun to get enough vitamin D.

There are food sources that have small amounts, including fatty fish, egg yolk, beef liver, cheese (if you eat dairy), and sun-exposed mushrooms. Unless you eat a lot of these foods though, it’s unlikely that you will be getting enough vitamin D.

And this is where supplementation comes in. The best way to ensure you have adequate vitamin D levels is to take a vitamin D3 supplement. Vitamin D2 supplements are available, and most often prescribed by MDs, but vitamin D3 is most effective at raising blood levels. D3 supplements are typically derived from animals and D2 are plant-derived, although there are now vitamin D3 supplements derived from lichen, a vegan-friendly source!

Before you buy a D3 supplement it is important to first get your blood levels tested.

This will help you determine if you are deficient, within normal limits, or have too much vitamin D. For vitamin D, there is an ideal blood level which you should have tested with a trained physician or nutritionist who understands about the importance of vitamin D and the difference between D2 and D3.

Under 30 ng/mL = deficient

30 ng/mL – 40 ng/mL adequate but not ieal

40 ng/mL – 70 ng/mL ideal (for most people)

70 ng/mL – 100 ng/mL = likely too high (for most people)

Over 100 ng/mL = top of acceptable range.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means it can build up in your system, so it is important not to overdo the supplementation. Generally, supplementing with 1000-4000 IUs per day is considered safe. I will often use higher doses with patients based on their individual needs. Your practitioner should do follow up tests until you know that your your level is within the ideal range and that you are on the right amount to maintain it. This is truly the only way to be sure of the proper supplementation dose.

About vitamin D and your bones:

There is one more really important thing to consider with vitamin D! It has a direct effect on the amount of calcium you absorb from the foods that you eat. When you have a vitamin D deficiency, you may only absorb 10-15% of dietary calcium. With adequate levels, you absorb about 40% of your calcium. It’s a big difference! So, you have all this extra calcium floating around in your blood, and that can be dangerous as it can build up over time causing it to block blood vessels leading to complications like strokes and heart attacks.

In order to make sure it doesn’t build up in those vessels you need to take the right form of calcium (if you’re taking it)—I recommend calcium citrate, and enough K2 to activate the carrier proteins that shuttle calcium into your bones. You can get that in a supplement made from natto, a kind of fermented soybean. You can also eat natto but it’s a bit of an acquired taste to say the least.

Let’s summarize:

You need vitamin D for many aspects of your health.

It’s hard to get it in the winter due to lack of sun – age, skin pigmentation, body fat, & genetics also play a role.

Get tested to know what your current D level is.

Supplement with vitamin D3 to get your levels between 40-60 ng/dL (for most people…please discuss this with your nutrition literate doc.)

My last blog post was about why you might want to avoid dairy. If you haven’t considered this, go take a peek at that post before you dive in here!

I originally wrote a post in 2011 titled Is it Real or is it Memorex about how to find decent dairy alternatives. At that time I brought up the fact that finding dairy alternatives was soooo much easier than it had been when I initially became vegan in the early 1990s. At that time the only options were soymilk (blech!) and fake cheese—also made of soy—that had casein, a dairy protein, in it.

This is an updated and more comprehensive post on dairy substitutes.

Many of the products I mentioned in 2011 aren’t available anymore. There is good reason for that—there has been more demand for dairy-free products that taste good so companies have been developing better and better options. What seemed so great in 2011 was, in retrospect, just ‘meh.’

This post will list some of my current favorites and a few of of my not-so-favorites.
Please note there are many local companies in other parts of the country that I don’t know about so be sure to take a look at what other brands you have at your local health food store.

One word of warning before we dive in, taken from my original post that still holds true to this day:

“When my son was two and a half he saw a picture of a mastodon in a book. He said “Dat’s not a elephant, but it’s similuh.” Right. Similar. Not the same. So think of that when you’re trying to replace dairy. If you don’t expect an elephant to be the same as a mastodon you won’t be disappointed.” -me

Milk:
First I’ll start by saying I don’t recommend soy milk. It can have hormonal-like effects, it is difficult to digest, and for many people it creates phlegm in the same way that dairy does. I’m especially concerned about soy milk for kids. Just, no.

When choosing a milk substitute you’ll want to know first whether you prefer a thicker, heavier type of faux-milk that has a mouth feel like whole milk, a thinner more watery type of faux-milk that has a mouth feel like skim, or something in between. Expect to try a few kinds and brands before you settle on one or two you love. Hemp and coconut milk tend to be thicker, almond and rice, thinner. But brand can really make a difference.

Next, you’ll want to know whether you’re looking for something more or less sweet. I always recommend getting unsweetened as most of us can do to decrease our sugar intake and I would rather have people eat their sugar in the form of fruit (or chocolate!) Cow milk has quite a bit of natural sugar in it so we get used to milk being a bit sweet. You’ll get used to the unsweetened pretty quickly though, especially if you’re drinking a glass straight up, you won’t even notice.

My favorites:

Pacific unsweetened vanilla hemp milk or unsweetened almond milk. Please note most of the hemp milk brands taste like, well, what you would expect them to taste like, and not in a good way. Pacific doesn’t have this issue.

Califa almond or almond/coconut.

Good Karma flax milk (there is one with added pea protein if you don’t mind the taste!)

Make your own. You can find recipes for nut milk all over the interwebs. It’s pretty easy to do, and saves money!

Cheese:
I think about faux cheese in three categories—slices for sandwiches or snacks, shreds for melting, and gourmet for eating with crackers or some such.

Slices hands down Follow your Heart mozzarella or provolone slices. They are both great on sandwiches. I don’t recommend melting it though.

For melting Daiya mozzarella shreds are my favorite. Go easy though, too much becomes texturally problematic. I make a mean GF mac & cheese with this stuff, lmk if you want me to post the recipe!

Mikayos is more of a gourmet type ‘cheese’ that you would slice to eat with crackers or veggies. The smoked farmhouse and the ash are my favorites. They have a soft mozzarella type that I didn’t love.

Also a gourmet type that is spreadable is called Treeline. I love the chipotle serrano pepper one on GF Mary’s Gone Crackers. Sooo yummy.

Ricotta is another cheese I missed for a long time so I came up with a decent recipe to use instead, you can find it on this post for GF/DF eggplant parm. Kite Hill also makes a ricotta cheese sub that’s very good. I love it with grated raw beets and toasted walnuts

Creamer:

Please note many of the creamers are full of sugar. Here,again, I recommend using unsweetened so you can use less sugar and continue to cut it down over time (assuming you want less sugar…hmmmm, maybe a blog post on that is in order.)

By far my favorite brand of creamer is Nutpods.It’s thick and doesn’t curdle in hot liquids. Unsweetened, of course. There are flavors as well as plain, which I don’t prefer, but you might! It’s made from almonds and coconuts. I don’t love the flavor of coconut so will note that this is very subtle in Nutpods which is the reason I prefer it over my second choice, below.

My second favorite is Califa. The sweetened version has a lot of sugar so I will steer you away from that on principle. If you don’t care about that you’ll find it is most like the sweetened commercial creamers most people are accustomed to using. It does have a coconut taste to it.

Another brand that people love is the So Delicious coconut creamer. Clearly, I’m not a giant fan of coconut so the Califa one is a little less intense as it’s mixed with almond.

Cream Cheese:

Tofutti brand has been around for a long time and tastes great but it’s soy, which as you know I don’t prefer. If you do get this, make sure that you get the non-hydrogenated (yellow container.)

There is a new brand called Kite Hill that is amazingly delish and tastes remarkably like real cream cheese. It’s made from cultured almonds. There is a plain and a scallion version. If you can get this one, I would recommend it over the tofutti for sure.

Sour Cream:

I don’t really like any of the sour cream options out there. Well, the Tofutti one tastes good but you know by now how I feel about that. Of late I’ve been using Foragers unsweetened cashewgurt (cute, right?) for sour cream. It fits the bill taste wise but it is pretty thin. I am planning on doing some experimenting with thickeners to see if I can work on that. I’ll keep you posted!

Ice Cream:
In 1912 when I was first vegan (ok, 1990) there were really no creamy ice cream alternatives. My sister showed me how to take rice dream ice cream and mash in hazelnut butter (it would work with any very creamy nut butter.) It made an icy, overly sweet, poor excuse for ice cream and turned it into something that was actually edible. Not great. Edible.

Now there are many really good brands. I particularly like the coconut based options as they tend to be fattier like ice-cream. My mom used to get us “ice-milk” when I was a kid (gag) so I don’t really like the less fatty options.

Coconut ice cream: Coconut Bliss, Larry and Lunas

Nut based ice cream. There are lots of local brands here in Oregon, and a few national brands- mostly cashew based. They’re good. A little too sweet for my taste but decent.

Ben & Jerry’s. I just bought this for the first time this weekend. Oh my goodness, it’s amazing! It does have corn syrup so it’s not the healthiest option but for here and there? Do it!

OR make your own! This is the best way to manage how much sugar you’re getting and you can use real fruit instead of sugar. It can be done in an ice cream maker (google ‘paleo ice cream’ for recipes) or just in a powerful blender like a vitamix or a ninja. My ten year old is equally happy with this as he is with a vegan treat from the local fro-yo place. This is my favorite
• ½ frozen banana
• 10 ice cubes
• 2 TBSP peanut or almond butter
• 2 heaping TBSP of hydrolyzed collagen protein
• 3 TBSP or more of unsweetened vanilla pacific brand hemp milk to preferred texture
• you can also add spinach!
if this isn’t sweet enough you can start with more banana and as you train yourself to the less sweet taste (assuming you want to do that!) you can start cutting it back

Yogurt:
I can’t talk about brands of yogurt before I remind you that flavored yogurt, dairy or not, is pretty much pudding (dear me, I am on my sugar soap box today…sorry!) I have patients tell me they eat flavored yogurt every day to get probiotics. I say if you need probiotics take probiotics, or make water kefir. Most flavored yogurt has 4-5 tsp of sugar per small container.

Kite Hill plain. This has 1 tsp of sugar per small container. There is an unsweetened version but it’s pretty much unpalatable. I bet it would be fine in recipes though.Foragers cashewgurt is my favorite right now- I’m using it in recipes and with fresh fruit as a snack (I’m also adding hydrolyzed collagen protein to boost that a bit.)

Coconut yogurt is another option. There are lots of brands now, I don’t love any of them.

There are other types and brands of non-dairy yogurt but all of them are the sugar-laden type that I just can’t get behind. Most of them also have a weird mouth feel.

Butter:

Soy free Earth balance (in the red tub or box) is my favorite dairy alternative for spreading or baking. I also sometimes sub with coconut oil or even olive oil for lower heat circumstances.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Hit reply and tell me what your favorites are and I’ll do an addendum to the post in a few weeks.

Yours in Health,

]]>To Dairy or Not to Dairy?http://drsamantha.com/dairy-not-dairy/
Mon, 19 Jun 2017 03:21:17 +0000http://drsamantha.com/?p=9627I first stopped eating dairy when I was a sophomore in college. I had been a vegetarian for over a year at that point, but dairy was still a staple in my diet.

One day I was chatting with a friend about needing to make a little extra money and she suggested that I apply for a job at Mixed Nuts, our college food co-op.

These jobs were coveted and there were dozens of people who applied for each position (I never did figure out why) but somehow I made it through over half a dozen interviews and was invited to join the team.

Every week we would collate requests, place orders, and get deliveries of vegetables, grains, bread, legumes, nuts, and dairy products that we would dole out into boxes for members.

My first position was “bread manager.” One of the easier positions as the bread was already pre-packaged. If I put the order in correctly, it always worked out swimmingly. When my stint as bread manager finished up, I rotated into the position of “cheese manager.” Now this was another level of food management! I would spend hours cutting giant wheels or bricks of cheese and measuring them out for the individual boxes. Ordering, climate control, weighing, identifying, there was always a cheesy disaster waiting to happen.

I loved it despite the pressure because I loved cheese. I mean I really, really loved cheese. This led, of course, to “a bit” of tasting while I was parting out said cheese chunks. Within a few months of my new position, I was covered in a rash. When I realized it was the cheese I was apoplectic.

Cheese, after all, was my favorite food! What, I wondered, had I done in a past life that led to my body betraying me over my beloved cheese?!

Over the following decade, I went back and forth eating and not eating dairy, for both ethical and health reasons. Around five years in I developed another symptom from eating dairy—a cough. It wasn’t until many years later I discovered was actually asthma. I now know that it is triggered by dust, cats, dogs, smoke, and yes…dairy.

Finally, after a particularly bad round of rash and cough, I decided it just wasn’t worth it. I quit for good.

There are many people over the years who have suggested to me that it’s important for all of us (including children) to drink milk and eat milk products. I can’t disagree with this enough. Of course calcium is an important nutrient, but there are absolutely no health reasons why humans would need milk, or any dairy for that matter, to get calcium. Now baby cows? That’s another story.

Dairy is not a nutrient. The FDA’s insistence that humans need to eat dairy is driven by the dairy lobby.

The dairy industry is $27 billion dollar industry—to producers. Do you think their lobby has a vested interest in trying to convince us all that dairy is an indispensable part of our diets? You bet they do.”Got Milk?” anyone?
That said, I’m not trying to vilify dairy. For many people dairy causes no symptoms at all and can be enjoyed in moderation. Though to be honest, I’m not convinced that 3-4 servings of dairy is necessary for anyone.

So when would you consider eliminating dairy from your diet?

Following is a list of some of the more common reasons:

Lactose intolerance. An inability to digest the sugar found in dairy products. Causes digestive distress.

Sensitivity. Some common sensitivity symptoms include congestion, chronic sinus infections, acne, rashes, headaches or migraines, fatigue, and joint pain. It’s also a very common cause of constipation. I’ve seen more children than I can count put on stool softeners and laxatives from a young age because of chronic constipation due to dairy.

Increased phlegm. There are several studies showing that dairy intake does not cause increased phlegm but I can say with 100% certainty that it does for me and many of my patients and clients. And not only more, but thicker. Yuck.

Inflammation. There are also studies that show that dairy doesn’t increase generalized inflammation, or at least that it doesn’t raise typical inflammatory markers in the blood. That said, I have many patients and clients with inflammatory conditions (anything ending in ‘-itis’ and most autoimmune conditions) whose symptoms are clearly aggravated by it. There is one study showing that it increases inflammatory markers in the gut. There are other condition specific studies as well.

Ethics. Some people feel that it’s wrong to eat food that comes from animals in any way shape or form. Others just feel uncomfortable eating animal products when the animal has been treated poorly.

Concern about how milk is treated. The process of homogenization (so the cream doesn’t rise to the top) and pasteurization (heating to kill bacteria) may fundamentally impact how our bodies process milk. I’m not recommending raw milk as that would be a liability but if I were to drink milk personally, I would be much more likely to go this route.

Breast cancer risk. In pooled analysis from studies it appears that there is an association with high fat dairy products and pre-menopausal breast cancer. But, none of these studies looked at organic dairy, hormone free cows, range fed cows, or non-homogenized or non-pasteurized milk. Based on this and other design flaws I’m not sure I’d personally stop eating dairy for this reason.

If you have another reason, hit reply and email me back, I’ll update my blog post with those too!

If you avoid dairy, or have been wanting to cut it out, or even just cut down on the amount you’re eating, my next post will be a rundown of many of the current dairy alternatives on the market—with reviews!

In the last few years the ‘minimalist’ movement has hit the bookstore shelves and is all the rage in just about every blog and magazine.

The idea is that the less stuff you have the less of a burden it is to keep things clean…the less money you spend…the fewer decisions you have to make. I have several friends who have gone to a “capsule wardrobe” with only 30-40 pieces total. If you’re one of these people, more power to you (and…if that’s you, you can probably skip the rest of this post!)

Most of us, however, don’t want quite that much de-cluttering. I love the idea of only having a few things but it doesn’t really fit me or my lifestyle (at this point anyway.) I have, however, gotten rid of about half of my stuff over the last five years. It feels great. Where I used to buy things to make myself feel better, I now get rid of things. Don’t get me wrong, I still have way more things than I need. And I still sometimes buy things I don’t need, but it’s getting better. And I make more of an effort to keep things tidy.

One of the things that I help my patients and clients with is figuring out where they have control over stress in their lives and where they don’t.

Often our physical space is an area where we do have a great deal of personal control. Acting on this is empowering at the same time it is actually logistically helpful to keep ourselves on track.

Do you want to feel more settled? Less agitated? More focused? Do you want to look around and feel like your space is peaceful and sorted? De-clutter.

If the idea of organizing is daunting to you just take this one step at a time and be gentle with yourself, de-cluttering for most people is a difficult process. We get emotionally attached to our things and that’s normal. Be clear, though, about how it serves you to hold onto things vs. how it might feel once you’ve released things you no longer need. Remember that each step you take you’re choosing to make more space for how you really want to feel.

If this is something that feels like it would be helpful for you, I am going to suggest that you start with your bedroom. So many of my patients and clients report—after clearing out their bedrooms—that having a beautiful relaxing space where they sleep has literally improved their sleep quality. They also report that they wake up in a better mood when their sleeping space is spare, neat, and pleasing.

Clearing the Bedroom

The space you sleep in should be clean, organized, and even a little Zen.

You want the space to radiate rest and relaxation.

A peaceful space to leads to more peaceful sleep.

Everything should have its own specific place. This may take some time to get in order but trust me, you’ll be relieved and better rested in the end.

1. Start with your bedside table. Clear the top. If you have a digital clock by your bed, move it across the room or get rid of it. It’s not good to have light or an electromagnetic field close to your head. If you can’t live without a clock at your bedside, get an analog alarm. I love the daylight alarm clock that slowly increases light, like sunrise in the morning. But again, not on your bedside table if you can help it.

The only things that should be on your bedside table (other than your analog clock) are any books you are currently reading (if you are in the middle of a number of books, pick two or three as this will prevent overwhelm), reading glasses if you use them, tissues, and a bedside lamp. If you journal before bed or when you first wake up then you can also have a journal and a pen. If your bedside table has a drawer, organize the contents and take out anything that you don’t use regularly or isn’t related directly to sleep or sex—the only two things you should use your bed for, according to sleep experts.

2. Dirty clothing. If you want to keep a hamper in your room, I recommend one with a lid. If you need a catch-all for clothes you take off before you sort clean vs dirty, or for when you’re in a rush, find a corner to tuck it into. This should be emptied daily, with laundry going in your laundry basket and clothing that you are going to wear again put into your drawers or closet.

3. The bed. Try to make your bed on a daily basis. Do this every morning as soon as you wake up. Coming into your room in the evening and finding your sleeping space neat and tidy will help you stay calm and centered.

Wall mounted jewelry armoire

4. Jewelry. I played with many systems to organize my jewelry and finally ended up with a wall mounted jewelry armoire. I have a large one that also doubles as my full length mirror, but there are smaller ones, as well as many different top of dresser or drawer systems to choose from. If you can use a storage system that is behind closed doors or in a drawer this will decrease the feeling of clutter in your space. If you don’t wear it, get rid of it.

5. Closet. If you have a closet in your bedroom, even though it’s behind closed doors it should still be organized. I recently read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and the section on managing your clothes and closet was fabulous. I highly recommend it. What’s most important is that you must be brutal when organizing your closet. This is an area that is very daunting for many people, which is why I left it for last. If this is hard for you, find a friend who also wants to tidy up and plan two dates—one at that person’s house, and one at yours! Make sure it’s a friend who will be blunt, honest, and loving.

If you’re not shooting for a ‘capsule wardrobe’ and you have the space, I personally think it’s fine to have lots of wonderful pieces. But only if each piece meets ALL of the following parameters:
1. Fits well and suits your body/figure (if you care about how your clothes fit)
2. Is in style or of classic style (if you care about style)
3. Isn’t falling apart
4. You love it (or like it a lot if it’s a staple piece…you don’t need to love your black cami or your gym socks)
5. You actually wear it

Once your bedroom is clear of clutter, make a plan for the next space- and put this on your calendar. One space a week, or one space a month, or whatever works for your schedule. You’ll be amazed at how this decreases your feeling of overwhelm, one little step at a time.

And on that note, my last patient didn’t show up so I’m going to go clear out some things from my office closet!

Yours In Health,

PS If you feel that you have a problem with collecting things such that it impedes your life or affects the people you live with, please speak with your physician about it. Hoarding disorder is a disease that can in many cases be treated with counseling or medication. Don’t carry shame about it. Get help if you need it. xo

]]>Exciting News—my book found a home!http://drsamantha.com/exciting-news-book-found-home/
Mon, 05 Jun 2017 04:23:35 +0000http://drsamantha.com/?p=9551Any of you who have been around for a bit have been hearing and reading about my book proposal for a while. And when I say a while, it’s been over 2 years…for this book. There was another proposal before that which I decided to bail on at the last minute—but that’s another story.

The way that non-fiction books work, most often, is that you write a proposal in a very specific format and use that to try to get an agent to sell your book idea to a publisher. The format includes an overview of the book, about the author, a marketing plan including comps for books already published, a table of contents, chapter summaries, and a sample chapter. My proposal was 81 pages. It went out about a year ago to a handful of agents who my author friends and friends in publishing happened to know and recommend. I ended up deciding to work with an agent that two of my friends have worked with and really liked!

I’ll spare you the gory details of the process but suffice it to say, several iterations in, the book was picked up last month by Sounds True, my publishing house crush! I’m working on a final title with my editor over the next few weeks. The manuscript draft is due in the fall and the book should be hitting bookstore shelves in fall of 2018. I’m over the moon.

I cannot wait to share more about the details as they get fleshed out. The book is based on the Stress-less Solution class and content I’ve been teaching for the last few years, but with an emphasis on Overwhelm. I’ll be exploring the impact that overwhelm has on our health and stress levels and teaching a very specific plan for dismantling it.

A big thank you to all of my patients and clients who have been so supportive over the last few years as I’ve gotten this worked out.

Now, to write a book!

xo

]]>Happy Mother’s Day…or Maybe Nothttp://drsamantha.com/happy-mothers-day-maybe-not/
Sat, 13 May 2017 15:54:49 +0000http://drsamantha.com/?p=9464I don’t usually use my blog as a platform for very personal posts but today will be one of those exceptions. This is a piece I just published on Medium.

As the mother of a child who was born to another mother, Mother’s Day is more than just cards and flowers. My privilege is a profound loss for another woman.

So please, understand that on Mother’s day there are many women (and men) who might not be celebrating.

Mothers who never got to see their child grow up.

Women who want desperately to be mothers but for some reason didn’t end up doing so, or who are spending every last cent of their money to try to get pregnant right now.

Women who regret not having children.

Children who were adopted and will wonder forever where they come from. And their mothers who may have been forced, coerced, or bribed to place their children for a ‘better’ life. Perhaps even those who chose fully to place their children with another family.

Mothers who are very difficult relationship with their children, or children who are in very difficult relationship with their mothers.

Those whose mothers passed away too early- or after a long lovely life.

Or any other reason that might not even occur to me.

Of course wishing a happy Mother’s day to all the Mamas everywhere is a lovely thought, but do keep in mind those who may be sad or triggered over this ‘holiday’…it can be a particularly difficult day.

This photo is the first time we met our son in Guatemala. He came home ten years ago, on Mother’s day, my greatest gift, and perhaps someone else’s greatest loss.

With love,

]]>Cook this: Green bean ‘french fries’http://drsamantha.com/green-bean-french-fries-gf-df/
Wed, 10 May 2017 12:39:03 +0000http://drsamantha.com/?p=9447When my son was a baby we wanted to make sure that he was a vegetable lover. The way we went about this was extremely tactical. We mixed a slurry of kale, chard, spinach, and peas into all of his baby food. All of it. Pears? Half slurry. Sweet potato? Half slurry. Oatmeal? Half slurry. I wrote about that here, along with other tips on getting littles to eat their veggies.

As he got bigger we made, and continue to make, an effort to include at least 2 servings of vegetables with dinner. Often three. And snacks wherever we can. (Pro tip: one serving while dinner is getting prepared is an easy sell as there’s nothing more enticing to eat first.)

This recipe is super easy and loved by most everyone I’ve served them to, including my son’s friends who tell us they don’t like green beans (or vegetables in general for that matter!) So without further ado may I present:

Green Bean ‘French Fries’What you need:

1 pound green beans (or asparagus if you’re a fan)

1.5 TBS olive oil

3 garlic cloves- crushed

salt

truffle salt (optional)

What you do:

Preheat oven to 425°.

Cut or pick off end of green beans, wash, and pat dry or leave out on a towel to air dry.

Mix olive oil and crushed garlic in small bowl.

Put green beans into a plastic bag (ziploc is easiest, a produce bag will work), pour in oil/garlic mixture, sprinkle with desired amount of salt (less salt if you plan on adding truffle salt, see #7), shake bag to coat beans.

Arrange single layer on baking sheets and place in oven.

Cook for appx 20 minutes or until the beans are slightly browned in areas, turning with spatula a few times during cooking. Remove at desired doneness—I like them a little crispy, my family likes them softer.)

If desired sprinkle with a little bit of truffle salt for a gourmet touch.

Yours In Health,
Dr Samantha

]]>Dealing with road bumps on the way to better healthhttp://drsamantha.com/dealing-road-bumps-way-better-health/
Fri, 05 May 2017 04:20:09 +0000http://drsamantha.com/?p=9391Fact. You can’t fail at self-care.

How many times have you decided that you’re going to make a change? Lose weight? Stop eating so much sugar? Read more? Avoid social media? Take your vitamins? Stretch regularly? Meditate?

If you’re like me and most of my patients and clients, it’s a number you couldn’t possibly begin to count. I remember when I was struggling with my weight and compulsively overeating. Every day I would wake up thinking today would be the day I would finally not fail. It would be the day that I would finally become the new me I’d always wanted to be.

When the day would end, and inevitably I found myself neck deep in a pint of ice cream or a bag of chips I would call myself out. I failed. Again.

Recently on Facebook one of my friends posted:

“I haven’t had a drink in 30 days. Not because I think I have a problem with alcohol but because I want to see how not drinking affects my sleep and joint achiness.

I also went super low carb (paleo keto) during that same time.

My fatigue (plagued me for years) is gone. I am never hungry. I’ve lost some weight. My mood and energy are stable throughout the entire day. In a nutshell, I feel amazing. Like really really REALLY amazing.

I went to an African drum dance class last night and had so much energy to dance it was unbelievable. I hadn’t eaten in 6 hours but because my body is fat adapted, I could power through with gusto.

Being an all or nothing type person, this has been relatively easy for me (giving up so many things). Now the trick is figuring out my balance. This is where I always fail and revert back to my gluttonous ways.

I want to be that 95 year old grandma jumping out of airplanes. Taking care of my health now has GOT to be a priority. This feels like a good start but I’ve been here before and failed…bigly (gained 60 lbs in under a couple of years).

Food and drink is an important part of my social life. I need to find that balance…lay your strategies on me…please!”

Facebook had plenty of answers for her. Here’s mine:

Oh Dear One, you didn’t fail.

You can’t fail at self-care.

Each and every step you take toward the you that you want to be is an important step. I’ve watched you over the last few years posting about your deeper acceptance of who you are independent of your weight. I’ve watched you over the last few years finding a wider voice that will help so many women. I’ve watched you embrace the quirky, off-beat, irreverent, and hilarious woman you are, despite a gaggle of difficult things in your life. If a 60 pound weight gain or another “failure” is what got you there, how, indeed, is it a failure?

It’s a success that you can see a vision of how you want to feel in your body. It’s a success to spend 30 days not drinking and following a paleo/keto diet (um…that’s a lot of work.) It’s a success that you are learning what your body craves and what it needs to keep you at the top of your game so you can have all of the energy you need to dance your ass off for hours on end.

Framing a weight gain after a weight loss (or picking up an old habit again) as a failure undermines your initial success and all the successes in between.

So no, you didn’t fail. You didn’t fail at all.

xo

And, as to your question, for me, it’s about getting clear about what’s most important. It appears that you have two conflicting values- socializing around food and drink, and feeling ah-maz-ing.

I would have you start with an important question:

What are your non-negotiables?

When I’m working with patients and clients I always work with them on three things before we decide what things are worth an all-or-nothing approach, and which things can be flexible.

Values. What are your core values, who do you want to be in your life.

Feelings. How do you want to feel on a day-to-day basis? This is mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Health goals. What would vitality look like to you, and is this important? What would life be like if you felt the absolute best you could? And most importantly, what is the critical minimum for you regarding your health?

Once you are clear about these things (I am actually working on a virtual course to do this based on the Stress-Less Solution that I have been teaching for the last few years, keep an eye out) then you can identify your non-negotiables, that which is most important to do, or stick to. After all, you can only do so much.

After you get specific about these things you can then actually vet your choices based on that which is most important as opposed to based on how your brain chemicals are tracking. You can keep your brain from being overwhelmed by avoiding chronic decision-fatigue.

Now to the all-or-nothing issue.

Our brains crave dopamine. Social situations create this for us, but so does novelty and success. This is why a short-term program is easier to stick to than a long game lifestyle. If you know your priorities are in one direction and you have trouble with moderation, you could have dopamine to blame. Being aware of this can really help.

That said, when we use food, or alcohol, or social media for that matter to make dopamine because we are uncomfortable feeling feelings of discomfort that may be a “therapy issue” – a term I use with patients and clients for the need to understand and address how our pathology is driving us to make choices that don’t line up with our values. We all have these. The question is how badly are they undermining us and how willing are we to face them?

Food and alcohol are both sedating. They’re sensual. They’re soothing. They cause us to create dopamine. They are a socially acceptable way of numbing ourselves from the myriad things that are painful in our lives.

So no, going back to ‘gluttonous’ ways isn’t a failure, it’s a process of diving deeper into what it is that you really need and who it is you really want to be. That’s a success. The question is what are you going to do with it?

I know I’m not alone, which is why I’m hosting another Facebook Live this coming Tuesday at 8am PT/11am ET to talk about allergies. I’ll be explaining what happens in your body when you get allergy symptoms, what supplements help with allergies, and when it may or may not be the time for a medication. And of course I’ll be answering any other questions you have.

In the meantime, here are my top 5 lesser-known tips for dealing with allergy season:

1. Keep your face out of your dog. You may not be allergic to your dog or cat, but if they spend time out of doors during allergy season, they’ll be covered in pollen. You pet the dog then wipe your eyes? Pollen in your eyes. You snuggle your kitty on the couch? Pollen on your face. You see what I’m getting at here.

2. Rinse your sinuses. I hate the neti pot. I dislike the squeeze bottle irrigators. I use them anyway. Why? Because the inside of your nasal passages are covered with sticky stuff (aka snot) that pollen sticks to when you breathe in. Then it sits there, and your body reacts to it. If you rinse it out after you’ve been outside for a period of time your exposure goes down. Irrigation also washes away excess mucus. I’ll be discussing specific kinds of irrigators in the Facebook live on Tuesday.

3. No day-clothes on the bed. If you are out and about in your clothing and you get pollen on you, when you get in bed, the pollen will get on your bed. Now you’re sleeping with pollen. Not good.

4. Rinse your hair before bed. Same deal as #3 but worse because your hair collects pollen then it deposits on your pillow and directly onto your face/eyes.

5. Find out if you’re allergic to dust mites, mold, or your pets. Often doctors don’t bother testing for specific allergies if they occur during a particular season, because you’re not about to stay away from the outdoors as a rule. That said, if you have allergies to other things that are more in your control (for instance if you have dust mite allergies you can get a HEPA vacuum or dust mite covers for your pillowcases), you may be able to do decrease your overall allergy burden, making your allergies easier to manage.

If you have questions about any of this, or anything else about allergies, hit reply here and I’ll include them in the Facebook Live on my personal FB page this coming Tuesday, March 21st at 8am PT/11am ET. Remember, you can go back and watch these any time. You can find last week’s Live (How to choose a protein powder) here.

And of course if you want personalized recommendations, come on into the office in PDX or make an appointment to see me virtually. You don’t have to be resigned to taking medications or suffering through your symptoms.

Just imagine…a spring with less sneezing and itching. Heaven.

Yours in Health

]]>How to Choose Protein Powder that’s Right For Youhttp://drsamantha.com/choose-protein-powder-thats-right/
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 19:15:35 +0000http://drsamantha.com/?p=9410I’ve had so many questions about whether it’s ok to use protein powder, to do that, I decided to do a Facebook Live to answer this and any other questions you have about protein Tuesday, more at the end of the post on that.

Getting enough protein is an important part of keeping your energy up, your mood even, and your blood sugar stable. The lion’s share of my patients and clients think they are indeed getting enough protein, but then when they track their food and we look at how much protein they get compared to how much I want them to get they’re shocked, and often resistant. My approach to care is always- let’s try it and see how you feel.

Almost all the time they feel better. Much better.

The rub though is that not everyone wants to eat meat at every meal. And although there are vegetarian sources of protein (and I’m not opposed to vegetarian diets on principle) most of these foods that we think of in this capacity are more fat or carbs than protein. You can find specific examples here.

So, for many of my vegetarian patients and clients, or those who simply want other options, I suggest protein powder.

When I started my practice twenty years ago there were only a few options for protein powder—soy and whey.

Now we have so many different kinds of protein powder that it’s easy to get lost in the weeds trying to figure out what’s what.

Here are my 5 rules for selecting a protein powder:

Rule #4: Get straight protein powder, no flavors, no sweeteners and mix it with what you choose so you’re in control of the ingredients.

Rule #5: Skip the pre-mixed cans of protein drink; they almost always have too many carbs or some kind of unsavory sweetener.

Now let’s look at the benefits and drawbacks to the different types of protein powder you can buy:

Remember, plain powder is best to be mixed with your own, real, food (my favorite protein smoothie recipe is here—the perfect balance of protein and carbs, just add more spinach, I’m not sure why I made that optional!)

Whey Protein Powder

Pros: Easy to absorb, mixes well, palatable taste and texture.
Cons: It’s dairy and many people do better without dairy (raises hand.)

Soy Protein Powder

Pros: Texture, may help with menopausal symptoms, vegan.

Cons: Hard to digest, not great for kids, funky aftertaste.

Rice Protein Powder

Pros: Hypoallergenic, vegan.

Cons: Rice often contains arsenic, if you get a lot of other rice in your diet it’s probably best not to choose this one.

Egg Protein Powder

Pros: Good texture, very little taste.

Cons: I haven’t been able to find egg protein powder from free ranging chickens and I don’t like the idea of eating eggs from chickens that are commercially raised (due to ethics.)

Pea Protein Powder

Pros: Easy to absorb, mild taste.

Cons: Can be a bit chalky.

Hemp Protein Powder

Pros: Your friends will consider you a legit hippie!

Cons: It’s not as high in protein as some other kinds of powders.

Hydrolyzed Collagen Protein Powder

Pros: Mixes into everything, even cold water, and pretty much disappears. Very mild taste. No texture at all. Please note the photo below is my giant 5 lb bag of hydrolyzed collagen. I don’t mess around.

Cons: Not suitable for vegetarians. If you get the wrong kind, the one that is not hydrolyzed, it will turn your smoothie into snot. You’ve been warned.

Mixed types of Protein Powder.

See above for pros and cons.

All of that said, I do think eating real food is better than drinking a smoothie in most cases (the exception might be right after or before a workout) but still, they are a great way to supplement your diet with protein.

If you have any questions about if and how you should incorporate protein powder into your diet, want to talk recipes, or get my suggestions for the the right protein powder for you, I’m hosting a Facebook Live chat on Tuesday March 14th at 9am PT/noon ET. I’ll be there to answer any questions you have about protein and/or protein powder.

And, per usual, feel free to respond to this email with any questions you’d like to see answered and I’ll include them even if you can’t make it live. You’ll be able to watch it on my Facebook page any time during or after the event.